Exaltation of the Holy Cross. Year C
Perpetual Remembrance Sunday
14 September 2025
INTRODUCTION
Good morning. My name is ………. and I would like to wish you a warm welcome to our Mass at Holy Spirit Church, Kurri Kurri/ St Joseph’s, Cessnock/ St Francis Xavier’s Abermain/ St Michael’s, Wollombi/
The priest celebrating with us today is Father James/Fr Solomon and assisting him is Deacon Viane.
On this Solemnity of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross we look upon the One who was lifted up, Jesus, drawing all people to himself. It proclaims that our God loves us and sent the Son to reveal that profound love. It is a proclamation that our sins can be forgiven and there is hope for those who turn to Him. It declares that Jesus is on the side of the innocent ones who suffer injustice and torture in this world. This Sunday is Perpetual Remembrance Sunday when remember those who have suffered abuse. We acknowledge the failures of those priests and Hierarchs, and even popes, who caused, or walked past, the sufferings of the innocent. Today we see the wisdom and power of God and exalt the Holy Cross.
Please stand for the Processional hymn
GREETING
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. AMEN
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God,
and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
And with your spirit.
Brethren (brothers and sisters), let us acknowledge our sins,
and so prepare ourselves to celebrate the sacred mysteries.
I confess to almighty God
and to you, my brothers and sisters,
that I have greatly sinned,
in my thoughts and in my words,
in what I have done and in what I have failed to do,
through my fault, through my fault,
through my most grievous fault;
therefore I ask blessed Mary ever-Virgin,
all the Angels and Saints,
and you, my brothers and sisters,
to pray for me to the Lord our God.
May almighty God have mercy on us,
forgive us our sins,
and bring us to everlasting life. Amen.
Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy. Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.
GLORIA
Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to people of good will.
We praise you,
we bless you,
we adore you,
we glorify you,
we give you thanks for your great glory,
Lord God, heavenly King,
O God, almighty Father.
Lord Jesus Christ, Only Begotten Son,
Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father,
you take away the sins of the world,
have mercy on us;
you take away the sins of the world,
receive our prayer;
you are seated at the right hand of the Father,
have mercy on us.
For you alone are the Holy One,
you alone are the Lord,
you alone are the Most High,
Jesus Christ,
with the Holy Spirit,
in the glory of God the Father.
Amen.
COLLECT
O God, who willed that your Only Begotten Son
should undergo the Cross to save the human race,
grant, we pray,
that we, who have known his mystery on earth,
may merit the grace of his redemption in heaven.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.
All: AMEN
THE LITURGY OF THE WORD
FIRST READING
A reading from the book of Numbers
When those that were afflicted looked upon it, they were healed.
On the way through the wilderness, the Israelites lost patience. They spoke against God and against Moses, ‘Why did you bring us out of Egypt to die in this wilderness? For there is neither bread nor water here; we are sick of this unsatisfying food.’
At this God sent fiery serpents among the people; their bite brought death to many in Israel. The people came and said to Moses, ‘We have sinned by speaking against the Lord and against you. Intercede for us with the Lord to save us from these serpents.’ Moses interceded for the people, and the Lord answered him, ‘Make a fiery serpent and put it on a standard. If anyone is bitten and looks at it, he shall live.’ So Moses fashioned a bronze serpent which he put on a standard, and if anyone was bitten by a serpent, he looked at the bronze serpent and lived.
The word of the Lord.
All: Thanks be to God.
RESPONSORIAL PSALM
(R.) Do not forget the works of the Lord!
1. Give heed, my people, to my teaching;
turn your ear to the words of my mouth.
I will open my mouth in a parable
and reveal hidden lessons of the past. (R.)
2. When he slew them then they would seek him,
return and seek him in earnest.
They would remember that God was their rock,
God the Most High their redeemer. (R.)
3. But the words they spoke were mere flattery;
they lied to him with their lips.
For their hearts were not truly with him;
they were not faithful to his covenant. (R.)
4. Yet he who is full of compassion
forgave their sin and spared them.
So often he held back his anger
when he might have stirred up his rage. (R.)
SECOND READING
A reading from the letter of St Paul to the Philippians
He humbled himself, therefore God had exalted him.
The state of Jesus was divine, yet he did not cling
to his equality with God but emptied himself
to assume the condition of a slave,
and became as men are;
and being as all men are,
he was humbler yet, even to accepting death,
death on a cross.
But God raised him high and gave him the name
which is above all other names so that all beings
in the heavens, on earth and in the underworld,
should bend the knee at the name of Jesus
and that every tongue should acclaim
Jesus Christ as Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
The word of the Lord.
All: Thanks be to God.
GOSPEL ACCLAMATION
Alleluia, alleluia! We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you,
because by your cross you have redeemed the world. Alleluia!
GOSPEL
A reading from the holy Gospel according to John
The Son of Man must be lifted up.
Jesus said to Nicodemus:
‘No one has gone up to heaven
except the one who came down from heaven,
the Son of Man who is in heaven;
and the Son of Man must be lifted up
as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert,
so that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.
Yes, God loved the world so much
that he gave his only Son,
so that everyone who believes in him may not be lost
but may have eternal life.
For God sent his Son into the world
not to condemn the world,
but so that through him the world might be saved.’
The Gospel of the Lord.
All: Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
HOMILY
An Altar Boys Prayer
Our Father who art in Heaven blessed be thy name!
Forgive us Father for our sins and show us the path to your Kingdom.
We thank you, Oh Lord, for our new pope, Leo,
and we pray he is a Pope who listens to all your children, and all his altar boys.
May he show the world he is truly one of your future saints and a pope
we can finally trust and believe.
We pray that he will do the right thing always,
and that he may listen to all his altar boys’ cry for help.
Almighty Father, we thank you, O Lord, for all the good priests we have,
and we pray for the good priests we have lost.
We pray they have become saints in your full vision in your Kingdom.
We pray, Oh Lord, for all the nuns- and God bless them all.
We pray almighty Father for all the altar boys past, present and future.
We pray especially for the altar boys who were abused, ignored and then forgotten.
We pray for these children who were hurt but never healed.
We pray dear Father for all the victims of child abuse and domestic violence
and we pray for their families and may we all feel their pain.
We pray for the girls who were violated, afraid and not believed or protected.
We thank you almighty God for the people who help victims and survivors of abuse
get Justice and find inner peace in their lives.
We pray and promise you Father we will all do better to help protect
all your creatures and look after our land and protect our children.
We pray, Oh Lord, and ask that you help us to
end poverty and bring world peace.
We beg you dear Father to remove all the evil amongst us
and assure true Justice will always be served.
Dear Almighty Father, us altar boys, your altar boys,
love and worship you and we pay tribute to our
patrons Saint John Berchmans and Saint Michael the Archangel.
We love you Almighty Father and thank you for hearing our prayers.
In the name of the Father and the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
November 26th will always be remembered as Saint John Berchman’s and altar boys Day.
A Survivors Prayer.
PROFESSION OF FAITH
I believe in one God,
the Father almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all things visible and invisible.
I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ,
the Only Begotten Son of God,
born of the Father before all ages.
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father;
through him all things were made.
For us men and for our salvation
he came down from heaven,
and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary,
and became man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate,
he suffered death and was buried,
and rose again on the third day
in accordance with the Scriptures.
He ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory
to judge the living and the dead
and his kingdom will have no end.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son,
who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified,
who has spoken through the prophets.
I believe in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church.
I confess one Baptism for the forgiveness of sins
and I look forward to the resurrection of the dead
and the life of the world to come.
AMEN
UNIVERSAL PRAYER – PRAYER OF THE FAITHFUL
Presider: Sisters and brothers, let us pray to the God of light and truth for our needs and those of the world.
Reader: We Pray for the Church and for the Pope. Lord hear us …
All: Hear our prayer.
Reader: We pray for all the victims of child abuse. Lord hear us …
All: Hear our prayer.
Reader: We pray for all the altar boys, past and present. Lord hear us …
All: Hear our prayer.
Reader: We Pray, O Heavenly Father, for the altar boys who were abused and took their own lives. Lord hear us …
All: Hear our prayer.
Reader: We pray for the innocent girls who were violated and not believed. Lord hear us …
All: Hear our prayer.
Reader: We pray almighty God for Fr Glen Walsh and Fr Maurie Crocker and Fr Chris Riley and all the people who stood up for the abused children. Lord hear us …
All: Hear our prayer.
Reader: For those who are sick. Lord hear us …
All: Hear our prayer.
Reader: For those who have died recently, especially ……, and for those whose anniversaries occur about this time including….. Lord hear us …
All: Hear our prayer.
Presider: God of compassion, we bring these needs to you with faith that they will be answered according to your will and through the power of the Holy Spirit, in the name of Jesus, our Lord.
All: Amen.
THE EUCHARISTIC PRAYER
PRAYER OVER THE OFFERINGS
May this oblation, O Lord,
which on the altar of the Cross
cancelled the offence of the whole world,
cleanse us, we pray, of all our sins.
Through Christ our Lord.
AMEN
The Lord be with you.
And with your spirit.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them up to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right and just.
PREFACE
THE EXALTATION OF THE HOLY CROSS
The victory of the glorious Cross
It is truly right and just, our duty and our salvation,
always and everywhere to give you thanks,
Lord, holy Father, almighty and eternal God.
For you placed the salvation of the human race
on the wood of the Cross,
so that, where death arose,
life might again spring forth
and the evil one, who conquered on a tree,
might likewise on a tree be conquered,
through Christ our Lord.
Through him the Angels praise your majesty,
Dominions adore and Powers tremble before you.
Heaven and the Virtues of heaven and the blessed Seraphim
worship together with exultation.
May our voices, we pray, join with theirs
in humble praise, as we acclaim:
Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God of hosts.
Heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.
THE MYSTERY OF FAITH
Save us, Saviour of the world,
for by your Cross and Resurrection
you have set us free.”
PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION
Having been nourished by your holy banquet,
we beseech you, Lord Jesus Christ,
to bring those you have redeemed
by the wood of your life-giving Cross
to the glory of the resurrection.
Who live and reign for ever and ever.
AMEN.
DISMISSAL
Go forth, the Mass is ended.
Thanks be to God.
© The scriptural quotations are taken from the Jerusalem Bible, published and copyright 1966, 1967 and 1968 by Darton Longman and Todd Ltd and Doubleday & Co Inc, and used by permission of the publishers. The English translation of the Psalm Responses, the Alleluia and Gospel Verses, and the Lenten Gospel Acclamations, and the Titles, Summaries, and Conclusion of the Readings, from the Lectionary for Mass © 1997, 1981, 1968, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved. The prayers are from the English Translation of the Roman Missal © 2010 International Committee on English in the Liturgy Inc. (ICEL). All rights reserved.